Integrated computer aided design for assembly systems

Assembly being the last step of the production cycle of a product, it is no rmally submitted to the constraints of the precedent step. Techniques like Design for Assembly have been developed to try to take into consideration t he peculiarities of the assembly process and reduce costs. The paper presen t the research and development of an integrated computer aided design for a ssembly system. The project main aim is to obtain methodologies and tools t o design and manage a complete flexible assembly system but in this paper w e will describe a CAAP (Computer Aided Assembly Planning) for the determina tion of gripping features, gripper and finger configuration, assembly seque nce, simulation of the assembly system for the design of management rules, three dimensional simulation of robots (serial and parallel) for the design of each single assembly and control cell. The results of the project is te sted in a specifically designed and implemented system for the assembly of electro-mechanical components.